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The Arkansas Senate approved a plan Wednesday allowing Gov. Asa Hutchinson to continue the state's hybrid Medicaid expansion despite lawmakers voting to end it, though opponents warned the tactic opens the door for lawsuits. (DeMillo, 4/20)

A budget bill containing funding for the governor’s Medicaid expansion plan cleared the Senate on Wednesday, thanks to an unconventional strategy that involved asking supporters of the plan to vote to kill it in order to save it. Senate Bill 121 by the Joint Budget Committee passed in a 27-2 vote, receiving exactly the number of votes the appropriation bill needed to reach the required three-fourths majority in the 35-member Senate. The bill goes next to the House, which is expected to vote on it Thursday. (Lyon, 4/20)

The Arkansas Senate has approved funding for the state’s hybrid Medicaid expansion, with an amendment that the expansion come to a stop by the end of this year. ... Considered a workaround plan, the amended legislation grants Gov. Asa Hutchinson the opportunity to veto the amendment, thus allowing for the reinstatement of the expansion. Hutchinson has said he intends to use that authority. (Riddle, 4/20)

Thus far, the push for Medicaid expansion in Kansas has been fruitless. An expansion bill proposed more than two months ago has not reached the Statehouse floor. Hospitals and health groups, who have long pushed for expansion, remain frustrated by the lack of progress. “What we’re most concerned about is the future,” said Bill Voloch, CEO of Wesley Healthcare. (Dunn, 4/20)